Airbus 9e

I'd imagine it will run till it's out of eyesight....


The shorter antenna is tuned to the frequency range the transmitter works on....2.4 Ghz is a very short wavelength, so it uses a shorter antenna....

dacaur

The problem with having no external antenna is that 2.4ghz is line of sight. things like plastic and foam wont block it, but metal and carbon fiber WILL. So if you mount the reciver low in the chassis, and happen to run just right so that a big hunk of metal or carbon fiber (the motor, CF shock towers, etc) gets between the reciver and the transmitter, its going to go to failsafe. At close range running at right angles to yourself, this is probably just going to manifest as a glitch (the tower hobbies 2.4 radios, which also have no antenna, do this) But as you get further, there is a greater chance it happening, especially with a 2wd vehicle with the motor mounted in the back, between your and the reciver....

Even the small 3-6" antennas on most 2.4ghz receivers is plenty to get it above anything metalic on the vehicle...

Hmmm, speaking of the tower hobbies radios, I know they are not compatible with fasst, but maybe they will work with the 2pl? the tower 2.4 receivers are fhss and only $22..... Most of tower hobbies electronics are made by futaba.... If they are compatible, that would make the system more tolerable in my eyes

etivac13

i would probably still wait 'til someone actually uses this and say it has a long range...it would still be nice if they use an external antenna which would increase the gain....

btw... we made on omni antenna an for our wifi radios working on the 2.4GHz frequency and it is long(1.5ft) which increased the antenna gain...and the range...

gtr

FASST is both of DSSS and FHSS ( Using both systems )

dacaur

Something cannot be both dsss and fhss, its one or the other... fhssis constantly changing "channels" while dsss is not.....

gtr

my informatiom is come from Futaba Japan.


Dear Sirs,

Our FASST is both of DSSS and FHSS ( Using both systems )

Best regards
Futaba Japan

gtr

Nomadio also is use FHDSS same as Futaba FASST.

PaPeRo

I don't think Futaba is stupid enough to not have an external antenna on the TX if they knew it wouldn't work. For surface systems you only need enough range to cover the distance that your eyes are able to see your vehicle and its orientation. Beyond that there is no need to extend the range even further. How are you gonna control your vehicle if you don't even know where it is?

With that said I'm pretty sure even though the 2PLG TX doesn't have an external antenna, it still has enough range to cover beyond viewing distance. Also the Futaba FHSS receivers have diversity antennas, one internal and one external so I wouldn't be concerned about carbon fiber, metal, motors etc blocking any signal from the transmitter. Think about it, why would Futaba not put an external antenna on the TX knowing that it would detrimentally compromise the usable operating range and ruin their reputation? The antenna doesn't cost that much in bulk, probably less than a$1. I'm pretty sure their system go through lots of testing so if they decide an external antenna is not needed then it truly is not needed.

Anyway for reference eventhe basic Airtronics FHSS systems withshort stubbyexternal antennashave a range of 1000 feet. That's slightly more than the length of 3 football fields! Now if you were to unscrew the antenna..worse case you'd get 300 feet range, that's still the length of one footbal fieldfarther than you'd be able to see the orientation of your RC vehicle anyway. Of course this is mostly speculation on my part but it's based on logical reasoning. If anybody here has a FHSS system try unscrewing the antenna and see how far your RC vehicle can go while still having full control.

dacaur

I do know that XPS tried the stubby antenna thing on its transmitter modules and had problems so actually switched using a coax cable going to a bigger antenna.... it remains to be seen how futabas setup works.

PaPeRo

The receiver does have an antenna, two to be exact one internal and one external.

gtr

R603GF receiver just only have external antenna, no internal antenna.

PaPeRo

Yeah I think you're right, only the FASST receivers have two antennas.

gtr

[] But one of the FASST receiver R603FF still have one antenna.

PaPeRo

It probably uses two systems and switches back and forth between the two to get the best signal like diversity antennasystems.

ElectricGuy007

Wow only 100 dollars on tower, not a bad deal for this radio.
Someone needs to do a review on this radio since it's out now.
I have just read about it elsewhere and it takes 4 AA's instead of 8.
Although it's not a FASST system my 3PM 2.4 might already be a step above this.
Bashers will sure like the price.

PaPeRo

It's not $100 at Tower, it's $109. Anyway thenew Airtronics systemjust came out at $100. I suspect the reason why the Futaba only uses 4 batteries is that it'spower output is lowunlike the Airtronics system FHSS-2 which is high power output.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/751548.asp

Futaba has a new 3 ch FASST system out too.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXXRL8&P=0

I just ordered the 3ch Airtronics system which is also a bargain.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/751552.asp

mail4ajo

I wrote to Futaba and they said the range will be same as on a 3PM 2.4. No difference. Thats interesting. I cant decide betwen the Sanwa MX3 2.4 and this one. 3PM-X 2.4 is out of my budget.

etivac13

when using analog servo with this, do you have to set the failsafe everytime the unit is turned on?

Sal Bandini

How many of you have external antennas on your cell phones?

Mounting the antenna externally will not necessarily get you more gain. The power and gain allowed is set by FCC rules, and most, if not all, of these companies design their products to get as close to the limits as possible. If they can do this with internal antenna, then why not?

The 4 vs 8 AA also probably has little to do with how much power they put out. Again, the power levels should be similar, it's that one might be designed to operate at lower voltages and is more efiicient. Also, runtime might be reduced, but TX power should be the same.

dacaur

Cell phones work VERY differently from our radios..... XPS actually tried making a radio system without an external antenna. They claimed it worked great, but in the end they retrofitted all existing stock with external antennas, and anyone that wanted to send theirs back would get one with an external antenna free. That says something to me about not having an external antenna....

On the other hand, those were meant for airplanes at a much longer range, so its possible this one will work well enough at the range rc cars run at. Will it have the same range as a 3PM? No way. Will it have more than enough range? probably....

etivac13

decided to get the 3PM instead of this....

dacaur

good choice! You will be very happy with the 3PM. I had one, but sold it when I got my losi LST XXL, because it came with a dX3S, and I already had another losi truck with a spektrum RX, so i can drive them both with the dX3S.

Boogie_Man

This is the question I have for the 2pl. Has anyone tried this yet?

mail4ajo

Still need reviews on the PL, not been able to decide between MX-3 and 2PL.

dacaur

Well, I cant in good faith recommend either, they both suck. The MX-3 was the worst, most featureless computer radio available... until the 2PL came out.... But if you put a gun to my head and said "choose one", I would go for the mx-3. Out of those two, only the MX-3 has exponential, which is the main reason in my mind to get a computer radio. . Every feature the 2PL has, you can get on a non computer radio. If you are going to get the 2PL, you might as well just get one of the losi RTR's and save some money.

The 2PL has:
Servo reverse
end point adjustment
and ABS (a fairly usless feature unless you suck at setting up your brakes)
3 char model naming (10 models)

THe MX3 has:
Servo reverse
end point adjustment
exponential
a third channel.
18 model memory, but you cant name them...

I dont know if you read through this thread or not, since you are interested in these two radios, i have to assume you didn't... you should know that BOTH of these radios are NOT compatible with some of the 2.4ghz receivers sold by their respective companies. The futaba will ONLY work with futabas fhss receivers, and not with their fasst receivers, and with airtronics, there are 2 versions, FHSS, and FHSS2.... which are not compatible with each other.... Normally when a company puts out a new technology, they make it backwards compatible with their old technology, but futaba and airtronics chose not to do that... Basically, you cant but the "low end" transmitter, then later upgrade to the "high end" transmitter.. you have to buy all new receivers....

If it were me, I would get something from spektrum. Spektrum does have DSM and DSM2, but ALL spectrum transmitters are compatible with DSM, and all spektrum transmitters that use DSM2, will also work with DSM receivers.